Ohio Team

Once again we were blessed with the presence of New Life Church from Gahanna, Ohio. I wish I could spend more time giving you the play-by-play of the week, but there just isn't time. The next team lands in about 3 hours and we're taking a van full of teenage girls from the community to a church camp 2 and a half hours away for the weekend...I am driving the van. Please pray!! :)


Anyway, here is a brief snapshot of what our time with New Life looked like!!

Hauling rocks: The project continues for building retention walls along the river. We have to haul to rocks by hand in wheelbarrows and with buckets through people's houses since there is no road back to the river. We like to call it a character-building experience!!

Vacation Bible School: The team lead the neighborhood kids in three days of VBS with the theme of Jonah and the whale, complete with a fully dramatized version of the story. It was AWESOME! They got the kids up and dancing, had them rolling on the floor laughing at their skit, and had them crafting with all their childhood creative powers!!

Visiting the neighbors: An integral part of ministry here in Anonos is visiting people right where they're at: In their homes. We love walking along side people in life, hearing their stories, and praying for their needs. The team jumped right in to get to know the community!!

Re-roofing Seidy's house: Seidy is one of the friendliest women alive!!! She is an integral part of our church and everyone who meets her feels welcomed and at home. The team decided to surprise her and finish the roof the last team had started. She was THRILLED!!! What a blessing to help keep her family dry during rainy season!

Helping in the store: The team brought a huge blessing of donations for the store!! We spent time helping Adriana hang things up and one day while it rained the girls spent time teaching the kids English and learning Spanish from them!

Painting and planting: To bless the community, we are beautifying it!!! Last year the team painted a beautiful mural in the Rotunda. This year they planted a garden in front of that mural and painted another mural on the corner!

Playing Ultimate Frisbee: Part of group bonding and team building includes a little fun! After church on Sunday we took the dudes to the park to play a friendly little game of Ultimate Frisbee...It was intense!! Gotta love a little competition!

Hike to the Cross: In honor of Dean's passing last year, the team hiked to the cross. We took a group of youth from the church and made the 3 hour trek up and back. It was a good hike with perfect weather. Everyone had a great time laughing and encouraging each other up the steep mountain pass!!!

Memorial for Dean: Most of my long-time blog followers will remember my post exactly one year ago marking the tragedy that happened during that New Life team. Dean Stoecklin, one of the team members, died of a brain aneurysm while on the team's free day. It was a moment that left an indelible impression on the church in this community and stretched the faith of so many at home in the states. In honor of Dean, we hosted a memorial service.